A MONTHLY NEWSLETTER FROM BLUE RIDGE ENERGY
matters MEMBERSHIP
August 2020
Did you know...member participation in
the Beat The Peak program has helped save almost $1 million in wholesale power cost! Join the movement today. Visit BlueRidgeEnergy.com/BTP to learn more.
Why Beat The Peak?
Looking for an easy way to keep costs down for yourself and all members? Blue Ridge Energy’s Beat The Peak program is for you!
Participating is simple and voluntary! Sign up to receive the alert of your choice — text, email, mobile app notification or phone call — to let you know when a peak will occur. Then, take action to help “beat the peak” by shifting some of your electricity consumption outside of peak hours. Suggested Beat The Peak actions:
• Raise your thermostat as high as comfortable in the summer • Wash/dry clothes and dishes during the morning or evening • Turn off unnecessary lights • Grill outside or use the microwave
Peaks occur when a majority of people are using the most electricity in a short amount of time and power producers must generate enough electricity to meet that demand. In our area, this is usually between 2-7 p.m. on the hottest weekdays of summer. If members voluntarily reduce their electricity usage during peak demand times,
it can make a big difference in controlling expensive wholesale power costs to keep rates — and bills — low. It can even help delay the need to build power plants! Sign up today by texting BTP to 70216 or at BlueRidgeEnergy.com/BTP.
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From Blue Ridge CEO Doug Johnson
Member involvement Since adding convenient mail and internet voting options for director elections, thousands of members are making their voices heard each year. You tell us you like these easy ways to participate in the important cooperative business of voting for your Board of Directors. Members were informed of the process and how to be involved in prior newsletters and at BlueRidgeEnergy.com. The Board of Directors are members just like you. They live in local communities and work hard to ensure the cooperative is operated in the best interests of member-owners. Board members devote significant time and effort in training and education to equip themselves for setting sound policy, rates and strategic direction for the cooperative’s membership. Their most important responsibility is assuring that the cooperative meets your needs for reliable, affordable electricity and energy products delivered with superior member care. The cross-section of backgrounds, skills and knowledge Page 18
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encompassed by your Board of Directors helps provide strong leadership to benefit you as members. Your Board is on a continuous course of training and learning to stay updated in a transforming industry. Each director works to achieve their credentials and Board leadership certifications from the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association. These curriculums, along with training by national and state associations, equip your Board with the critical skills and knowledge necessary to effectively guide the cooperative. I want to thank the members who voted this year by mail and Internet to elect four directors to three-year terms. We’re also glad many of you joined us by telephone to hear business reports during your cooperative’s annual meeting. We held this year’s meeting by phone as communicated in your June Carolina Country magazine for the health and safety of everyone during this period of COVID-19. Member participation in electing your Board of Directors is one of the seven cooperative principles and one of the many benefits of membership in an electric cooperative!
Board Update Over 6,100 members voted in this year’s director elections, thanks to convenient options of voting by mail or internet. Members could also vote at the cooperative’s corporate office in Lenoir during the Annual Meeting, which was held Thursday, June 25.
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Directors elected to serve threeyear terms were: David Eggers, Caldwell district; Tom Trexler, Watauga district; David Boone, Ashe district; and Johnny Wishon, Alleghany district.
Audio updates of annual meeting reports are online at BlueRidgeEnergy.com. MEMBERSHIP matters
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Think safety: Call 811 Homeowners can make risky assumptions about whether or not they should get their utility lines marked, but every digging job requires a call — even small projects like planting trees and shrubs. Digging without first calling to mark all underground facilities can disrupt service to an entire neighborhood, cause harm to you and others.
Be sure to keep the ticket number 811 gives you for future references or to track your request online at: ncocc.org.
For your safety, please call “811” at least three business days before any digging project. It’s required by law to notify local utilities regarding digging projects. This one call will get all participating utility underground lines marked for free. Simply call 811 and answer a few questions about your location and the type of work to be done.
Remember, know what’s below before you dig — always call 811!
How to lower summer energy bills Costs for cooling your home can make up a large portion of your summer electric bills. Stay cool and save money with these energy efficiency tips!
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Low-Cost Tips • Plant trees and shrubs that shade the exterior of your home in summer. • Replace disposable air filters monthly (or according to your manufacturer’s guidelines). • Use solar lighting to brighten up walkways. • Replace light bulbs with LED versions.
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• Close blinds and drapes during the day to keep heat out. • Set your thermostat as high as comfortable when you’re home (and higher when you’re away or during a Beat The Peak alert period). • Turn off lights and ceiling fans when you leave a room. • Air dry dishes and clothes. • Use a microwave instead of your range or oven. Or, grill outdoors!
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What is the top cause of outages? If you answered this question by saying trees coming into contact with power lines, you would be right! In fact, trees contribute to over half of our outage time. That’s why your cooperative has a dedicated, year-round vegetation management program to ensure your electricity reliability by protecting over 8,300 miles of power lines on the Blue Ridge Energy system. Balancing reliability with the beauty of scenic western North Carolina is also important. That’s why we contract with two certified arborists to oversee the program. Keeping trees away from power lines is an important safety precaution. Trees and other objects that come into contact with power lines can become energized, leading to shock or electrocution. Even fallen power lines can still be energized, which is why
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER Doug Johnson
EDITOR Renée R. Whitener
PRODUCTION SUPERVISOR DISTRICT OFFICES
(828) 754-9071 (828) 264-8894 (336) 846-7138 (336) 372-4646 (800) 451-5474 (800) 448-2383
(PowerLine® is an automated account information and outage reporting system.)
Toll Free
(800) 451-5474
(for members outside of the service area.)
To report an outage at any time, call one of the numbers listed above.
OFFICE HOURS:
8:30 am - 5:00 pm, Monday-Friday Night deposit available. Visit us on the web: BlueRidgeEnergy.com +
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A clear path for power lines creates a safer working environment for line technicians, whether they’re performing routine maintenance or power restoration. Members can help by avoiding planting trees near power lines. For existing trees that are directly in the cooperative’s rights of way, Blue Ridge Energy helps with removal and also with replacement by giving members a voucher for a lowgrowing species at local, approved nurseries. Vouchers may also apply to a larger tree that is planted farther from rights of way. For more information, contact Blue Ridge Energy or visit the Resources tab at BlueRidgeEnergy.com.
Deadline is September 15
Susan Simmons Caldwell Watauga Ashe Alleghany Wilkes PowerLine®
no one but our line technicians should ever go near a downed power line.
Teachers: apply now for Bright Ideas grants! Blue Ridge Energy is celebrating 26 years of lighting up learning in classrooms through the Bright Ideas education grant program. Teachers in K-12 classrooms with innovative ideas for creative learning projects can find and submit an application by visiting ncbrightideas.com. The deadline is September 15 and winners are announced in November. Blue Ridge Energy will provide up to a total $20,000 to fund Bright Ideas grants in the cooperative’s service area! Individual grants are awarded at a maximum of $1,500.
Since 1994, Blue Ridge Energy has awarded 580 Bright Ideas grants worth over $519,000 that has benefitted over 100,000 students.
Bright Ideas grants are designed to fund innovative classroom projects that benefit students and would not otherwise be funded by regular school budgets. This institution is an equal opportunity provider and employer.
MEMBERSHIP matters
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